companies » ENSA
Timeline Event » 1937 – Les Ballets Trois Arts established
John Regan had trained with Enrico Cecchetti and Nicholas Legat before he joined Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes and the Markova-Dolin Ballet. In 1937 Regan formed his own group, the International...
Timeline Event » 1939 – ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association) formed
The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson. Their mission was to provide entertainment for the British armed forces...
Timeline Event » 1940 – The Anglo Polish Ballet established
Initially formed in 1940 by the dancers Czeslaw Konarski and Alicja Halama, the Anglo-Polish Ballet was led by Jan Cobel from 1941 onwards. They toured Britain with some success, performing Swan...
Established as a “non-profit making organisation to encourage and develop the art of ballet”, the founding members of The Ballet Guild included Christmas Humphreys, Keith Lester, Derrick Lynham,...
Timeline Event » 1944 – Anglo-Russian Ballet established
Daughter of the editor of The Stage, Letitia Browne opened the Wimbledon Ballet Club in 1935. Browne worked with ENSA (the Entertainments National Service Association) during World War Two, taking...
All the arts, including ballet, played their own part in the war effort. The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was the brainchild of one man. Basil Dean began his career in repertory...